Statement of National Chiayi University on the False Accusations of Being a “For-Profit University”

National Chiayi University and many other outstanding universities nationwide were listed in “For-Profit University Rankings 2018” released just recently by the Alliance Against Commercialization of Education. This astonishing result has, without doubt, severely tarnished and humiliated our reputation for commitment to education. These accusations without evidence are not acceptable to all of our faculty, staff members, students and tens of thousands of alumni in all walks of life. It is also unacceptable to make reckless, groundless announcements that have tainted our hard-won reputation.

The foundation of sustainable development in National Chiayi University has been solidly laid thanks to leadership by the incumbent and former presidents, and well as joint efforts by all the faculty, staff members and students. Throughout the years, NCYU has witnessed continuous improvement and a significant increase in reputation. This year, the university was honored with the Higher Education Enhancement Program worth NT$57.45 million by the Ministry of Education (MOE), following its attainment of subsidy programs such as the Teaching Empowerment Plan, Featured University Project and University Social Responsibility Project. According to “The 2017 Taiwan University Ranking,” a statistical report by the local media Global Views Monthly, NCYU has improved the most as a comprehensive university and ranked 29th in the category, up 12 from 2016; we have also ranked 32nd in the category of social prestige. All these are a testament to the synergy that has been shown due to meticulous school governance after the merger of Chiayi Junior Teachers College and National Chiayi Institute of Technology into a comprehensive university 18 years ago.

To ensure a correct understanding of the issue, given the fact that the Alliance Against Commercialization of Education is misleading people with inaccurate data, NCYU hereby responds as follows.

1.Dropout rate: Our number of dropouts due to academic reasons in the three academic years from 2014 to 2017 accounted for 10.8% of the number of dropouts in general. Among them, the number of dropouts from day-school bachelor programs represented 12.6% of the number of dropouts in general, and the number of dropouts from continuing undergraduate programs, 12%. In other words, only students who work hard can graduate.

2.Student-teacher ratio: As required by MOE, the student-teacher ratio should be no higher than 27:1. In the academic year 2017-2018, our student-teacher ratio is 20.33:1, among which the day-school student-teacher ratio is 16.62:1, much lower than 23:1 as required for day schools by MOE.

3.Areas of the school grounds and buildings: Our school area accounts for 292.53 acres (including 117.02 acres of the experimental forest), and the floor areas of the buildings amount to 396,729.6 square meters, much higher than 113,488 square meters as required by MOE. We thus provide the teachers and students with a sound educational environment and sufficient resources.

4.Tuition and fees: According to the List of Tuition and Fees for Day-School Bachelor Programs in Public Universities and Colleges Nationwide for the 2017-2018 Academic Year announced by MOE, the tuition and fees charged by our College of Science and Engineering and College of Management are the lowest compared with those of the public universities at home; our Teachers College and College of Humanities and Arts, the second lowest nationwide; and the College of Agriculture, College of Life Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine, the fourth lowest in the country.

6.Dormitories: Our student dormitories can accommodate more than 3,800 students. The accommodation rate in 2017 amounted to 87%. The project to build a new student dormitory on the Sinmin campus, which will offer 500 beds for application, has been approved by MOE and is scheduled for completion by 2021. In correspondence with merger of campuses, a new student dormitory offering 1,300 beds is scheduled for construction on the Lantan campus to provide a satisfying living environment.

7.Scholarships: To ease the financial burden of the underprivileged students, we have an annual budget of over NT$60.57 million for scholarships, including tuition-relief measures, scholarships to underprivileged students, scholarships to poor students, financial aids, and student life and learning scholarships. All these aim to ensure the right to education for financially-challenged students.

NCYU has been around on the Chianan Plain for nearly a hundred years. The false accusation of being a “for-profit university” has sullied our long-standing and hard-earned reputation, and thus is unacceptable to all the faculty, staff members, students and alumni of NCYU. Since the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan has been commissioned by MOE to carry out educational quality evaluation of colleges and universities, it is not advisable for the Alliance Against Commercialization of Education to accuse us based on unprofessional and untrustworthy data. Owing to the fact that the alliance attacked us with humiliating words, we will consult an attorney on the matter, and reserve the right to take legal action without fear to ensure our reputation remains intact.